Give TF4 Some Love
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:04 pm
As of late, I feel that Joe.to's baby, TF4, has been neglected. I know that TF2 is over 7 years old now, and that there aren't as many new players coming, or new custom maps being released constantly, but TF2 is still a popular game, and I would argue it is the most important aspect of the J2 community currently.
Bring back Silly Sundays (or some other regular server event)
Silly Sundays were a fun weekly event for the community to take a break from normal gameplay. As far as I could tell when they took place, Silly Sundays were quite popular with the players and opened the event opened up new ways to screw around with each other. The main issue that seemed to kill this event was the simple fact that a srstaff member had to be on constantly to enable the plugins for !rtd, which is probably why the event died out; not due to lack of interest, but because it would require a srstaff to constantly enable it for each map, which is obviously tedious for that admin. In the future, hopefully bl4nk could automate that for us when he comes back. As seen in the parentheses, I am also open to other ideas for server events.
New Maps (and reviving old hits)
There aren't exactly dozens of maps coming out each month for tf2 nowadays (at least ones that arent trade/ prop hunt maps), but there are still plenty of custom maps out there for us to try out on the server. I know that quite a few custom maps aren't perfect, or are still a bit early in development, but so what? 7 years ago when tf4 came online, and the earliest custom maps came out, we still added them despite their quality, and we still had fun. Playing maps that aren't perfect is what we signed up for when we started a custom map server, I mean our "official" map is downright terrible, (I'm looking at you, rooftime), but we still love it. Furthermore, how do we expect the custom map community to survive if people don't play their maps to encourage them to continue making them and improving them? I am tired of seeing maps removed or not added because they don't appeal to srstaff that are already largely absent from tf2. In regards to old maps that are on the server but not an option to nominate, all of us need to go back and take a second look at why they are in that position. If a map is off the nominate menu because 1 or 2 admins took issue with it, perhaps we should get more opinions on it from regular players. If a map is off the menu because there are already so many like it, such as 5 point capture maps, maybe we should rotate them regularly to fix that.
*side note for this part, I really wish we could find a way to get a fresh generation of j2 mappers for tf2
New "Recently Added" Tab
To build off of the previous point, I feel the nominate menu should include a "recently added" tab to bring attention to new maps that were added/revived on the server to help players find something new.
Make use of new gamemodes
Now, this one I'm not sure about, but I feel at the very least it warrants some debate. Recently valve has added a few new ways to play the game, and the 2 I'm going to focus on are the new mann up mode, and kart racing. In regards to mann up mode, I see no reason to keep these maps off the nominate list. In regards to the kart racing maps that have come out recently, apparently there are issues with messing up the server that are experienced with arena maps as well. Perhaps there is a plugin available, or bl4nk could be asked nicely to make one available, that would solve this? These maps are too entertaining, regardless of their stupidity, to be ignored.
On Adminstration
Now, before I go into this part I just want to say that I appreciate the srstaff and all the work they have done over the years. That being said, I feel like the srstaff seemed to have largely lost touch with the playerbase they maintain on tf4. Of the 16 srstaff listing in the forum group, 7-8 of them have largely disappeared from the community, and I only ever really see Eviltechie or mbaxter on the server on a semiregular basis. I understand that there is coding and plugin fixing that goes on behind the scenes, and I don't want to appear ungrateful for that, I just feel that other aspects of the server could be worked on as well. Our TF2 server is what keeps the community alive today, and just as importantly, the people who play on it are the main sources of donations that keep our infrastructure alive. Now that we have no other servers (RIP minecraft), I feel the srstaff should focus more on maintaining and even growing our tf2 community. If a srstaff member doesn't have time any more, or has lost interest in the game, that is totally fine, it happens and I'm not going to complain about that. What I will complain about is allowing the server to stagnate because you lost interest and didn't allow other people more interested to help instead.
The Community as a Whole
This last part takes a look at the bigger picture outside of tf4, and how it relates to the J2 community. Back when joe was around, the tf2 server had a clear function; to draw people to the forums where we can all talk with each other and discuss things and have a good time. In this way, team fortress itself was simply a bonding point to get the ball rolling. The fact that the server was unique meant that it brought unique players outside of the standard srs bsns tf2 player that would frequent a more mainstream server. I feel like we have lost quite a bit of that connection since joe left. This isn't just to criticize administrators, as it is an aging game after all. I feel that the j2 community as a whole should put more effort into bringing new tf4 regulars into the wider joe.to community, beyond simply coming to the forums to sign up for a reserved slot. Even if people disagree with my comments, I hope at the very least this generates a discussion for new ways to liven up the server and the community.
I want to end on a positive note, so I'll say this. Of all the TF2 communities I have seen or been a part of, none have been as resilient as J2. I don't think there is any other server out there that has regular players populating the server on their own initiative so early in the day, and willing to endure so many maps that would clear out other servers. I think the reason for this is what I alluded to earlier, and that is that our server attracts types of players you don't find anywhere else. I think that is a testament to how good the server is, and a reason for us to want to make it even better.
TLDR: Gimme new maps, fire all admins
Bring back Silly Sundays (or some other regular server event)
Silly Sundays were a fun weekly event for the community to take a break from normal gameplay. As far as I could tell when they took place, Silly Sundays were quite popular with the players and opened the event opened up new ways to screw around with each other. The main issue that seemed to kill this event was the simple fact that a srstaff member had to be on constantly to enable the plugins for !rtd, which is probably why the event died out; not due to lack of interest, but because it would require a srstaff to constantly enable it for each map, which is obviously tedious for that admin. In the future, hopefully bl4nk could automate that for us when he comes back. As seen in the parentheses, I am also open to other ideas for server events.
New Maps (and reviving old hits)
There aren't exactly dozens of maps coming out each month for tf2 nowadays (at least ones that arent trade/ prop hunt maps), but there are still plenty of custom maps out there for us to try out on the server. I know that quite a few custom maps aren't perfect, or are still a bit early in development, but so what? 7 years ago when tf4 came online, and the earliest custom maps came out, we still added them despite their quality, and we still had fun. Playing maps that aren't perfect is what we signed up for when we started a custom map server, I mean our "official" map is downright terrible, (I'm looking at you, rooftime), but we still love it. Furthermore, how do we expect the custom map community to survive if people don't play their maps to encourage them to continue making them and improving them? I am tired of seeing maps removed or not added because they don't appeal to srstaff that are already largely absent from tf2. In regards to old maps that are on the server but not an option to nominate, all of us need to go back and take a second look at why they are in that position. If a map is off the nominate menu because 1 or 2 admins took issue with it, perhaps we should get more opinions on it from regular players. If a map is off the menu because there are already so many like it, such as 5 point capture maps, maybe we should rotate them regularly to fix that.
*side note for this part, I really wish we could find a way to get a fresh generation of j2 mappers for tf2
New "Recently Added" Tab
To build off of the previous point, I feel the nominate menu should include a "recently added" tab to bring attention to new maps that were added/revived on the server to help players find something new.
Make use of new gamemodes
Now, this one I'm not sure about, but I feel at the very least it warrants some debate. Recently valve has added a few new ways to play the game, and the 2 I'm going to focus on are the new mann up mode, and kart racing. In regards to mann up mode, I see no reason to keep these maps off the nominate list. In regards to the kart racing maps that have come out recently, apparently there are issues with messing up the server that are experienced with arena maps as well. Perhaps there is a plugin available, or bl4nk could be asked nicely to make one available, that would solve this? These maps are too entertaining, regardless of their stupidity, to be ignored.
On Adminstration
Now, before I go into this part I just want to say that I appreciate the srstaff and all the work they have done over the years. That being said, I feel like the srstaff seemed to have largely lost touch with the playerbase they maintain on tf4. Of the 16 srstaff listing in the forum group, 7-8 of them have largely disappeared from the community, and I only ever really see Eviltechie or mbaxter on the server on a semiregular basis. I understand that there is coding and plugin fixing that goes on behind the scenes, and I don't want to appear ungrateful for that, I just feel that other aspects of the server could be worked on as well. Our TF2 server is what keeps the community alive today, and just as importantly, the people who play on it are the main sources of donations that keep our infrastructure alive. Now that we have no other servers (RIP minecraft), I feel the srstaff should focus more on maintaining and even growing our tf2 community. If a srstaff member doesn't have time any more, or has lost interest in the game, that is totally fine, it happens and I'm not going to complain about that. What I will complain about is allowing the server to stagnate because you lost interest and didn't allow other people more interested to help instead.
The Community as a Whole
This last part takes a look at the bigger picture outside of tf4, and how it relates to the J2 community. Back when joe was around, the tf2 server had a clear function; to draw people to the forums where we can all talk with each other and discuss things and have a good time. In this way, team fortress itself was simply a bonding point to get the ball rolling. The fact that the server was unique meant that it brought unique players outside of the standard srs bsns tf2 player that would frequent a more mainstream server. I feel like we have lost quite a bit of that connection since joe left. This isn't just to criticize administrators, as it is an aging game after all. I feel that the j2 community as a whole should put more effort into bringing new tf4 regulars into the wider joe.to community, beyond simply coming to the forums to sign up for a reserved slot. Even if people disagree with my comments, I hope at the very least this generates a discussion for new ways to liven up the server and the community.
I want to end on a positive note, so I'll say this. Of all the TF2 communities I have seen or been a part of, none have been as resilient as J2. I don't think there is any other server out there that has regular players populating the server on their own initiative so early in the day, and willing to endure so many maps that would clear out other servers. I think the reason for this is what I alluded to earlier, and that is that our server attracts types of players you don't find anywhere else. I think that is a testament to how good the server is, and a reason for us to want to make it even better.
TLDR: Gimme new maps, fire all admins